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Given the ongoing global SARS-CoV-2-vaccination efforts, clinical awareness needs to be raised regarding the possibility of an increased incidence of SARS-CoV-2-vaccine-related immune-mediated thrombocytopenia in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) secondary to cerebral sinus and vein thrombosis (CVT) requiring (emergency) neurosurgical treatment in the context of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT). Only recently, an association of vaccinations and cerebral sinus and vein thrombosis has been described. In a number of cases, neurosurgical treatment is warranted for these patients and special considerations are warranted when addressing the perioperative coagulation. We, herein, describe the past management of patients with VITT and established a literature-guided algorithm for the treatment of patients when addressing the impaired coagulation in these patients. Increasing insights addressing the pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2-vaccine-related immune-mediated thrombocytopenia guide physicians in developing an interdisciplinary algorithm taking into account the special considerations of this disease.
Selective BRAF inhibitors such as vemurafenib have become a treatment option in patients with Langerhans cell Histiocytosis (LCH). To date, only 14 patients receiving vemurafenib for LCH have been reported. Although vemurafenib can stabilize the clinical condition of these patients, it does not seem to cure the patients, and it is unknown, when and how to stop vemurafenib treatment. We present a girl with severe multisystem LCH who responded only to vemurafenib. After 8 months of treatment, vemurafenib was tapered and replaced by prednisone and vinblastine, a strategy which has not been described to date. Despite chemotherapy, early relapse occurred, but remission was achieved by re-institution of vemurafenib. Further investigation needs to address the optimal duration of vemurafenib therapy in LCH and whether and which chemotherapeutic regimen may prevent disease relapse after cessation of vemurafenib.
Background: Cytokine-induced-killer (CIK) cells are a promising immunotherapeutic approach for impending relapse following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). However, there is a high risk for treatment failure associated with severe graft versus host disease (GvHD) necessitating pharmaceutical intervention post-transplant. Whether immunosuppression with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) or Ciclosporin A (CsA) influences the cytotoxic effect of CIK cell immunotherapy is still an open issue.
Methods: CIK cells were generated from PBMC as previously described followed by co-incubation with mycophenolic acid (MPA) or CsA. Proliferation, cytotoxicity and receptor expression were investigated following short- (24 h), intermediate- (3 days) and long-term (7 days) MPA incubation with the intention to simulate the in vivo situation when CIK cells were given to a patient with relevant MPA/CsA plasma levels.
Results: Short-term MPA treatment led to unchanged proliferation capacity and barely had any effect on viability and cytotoxic capability in vitro. The composition of CIK cells with respect to T-, NK-like T- and NK cells remained stable. Intermediate MPA treatment lacked effects on NKG2D, FasL and TRAIL receptor expression, while an influence on proliferation and viability was detectable. Furthermore, long-term treatment significantly impaired proliferation, restricted viability and drastically reduced migration-relevant receptors accompanied by an alteration in the CD4/CD8 ratio. CD3+CD56+ cells upregulated receptors relevant for CIK cell killing and migration, whereas T cells showed the most interference through significant reductions in receptor expression. Interestingly, CsA treatment had no significant influence on CIK cell viability and the cytotoxic potential against K562.
Conclusions: Our data indicate that if immunosuppressant therapy is indispensable, efficacy of CIK cells is maintained at least short-term, although more frequent dosing might be necessary.
Angiogenesis, the process by which endothelial cells (ECs) form new blood vessels from existing ones, is intimately linked to the tissue’s metabolic milieu and often occurs at nutrient-deficient sites. However, ECs rely on sufficient metabolic resources to support growth and proliferation. How endothelial nutrient acquisition and usage are regulated is unknown. Here we show that these processes are instructed by Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP)/WW domain-containing transcription regulator 1 (WWTR1/TAZ)-transcriptional enhanced associate domain (TEAD): a transcriptional module whose function is highly responsive to changes in the tissue environment. ECs lacking YAP/TAZ or their transcriptional partners, TEAD1, 2 and 4 fail to divide, resulting in stunted vascular growth in mice. Conversely, activation of TAZ, the more abundant paralogue in ECs, boosts proliferation, leading to vascular hyperplasia. We find that YAP/TAZ promote angiogenesis by fuelling nutrient-dependent mTORC1 signalling. By orchestrating the transcription of a repertoire of cell-surface transporters, including the large neutral amino acid transporter SLC7A5, YAP/TAZ-TEAD stimulate the import of amino acids and other essential nutrients, thereby enabling mTORC1 activation. Dissociating mTORC1 from these nutrient inputs—elicited by the loss of Rag GTPases—inhibits mTORC1 activity and prevents YAP/TAZ-dependent vascular growth. Together, these findings define a pivotal role for YAP/TAZ-TEAD in controlling endothelial mTORC1 and illustrate the essentiality of coordinated nutrient fluxes in the vasculature.
Highlights
• Parents with and without migration background differ in educational knowledge.
• Parents with migration background have less educational knowledge on average.
• Variations in educational knowledge by immigrant groups.
• Social and cultural resources are central to explaining knowledge differences.
• Acculturation strategies prove to be of little relevance.
Abstract
Although extant research persistently highlights the importance of information for educational decision-making, better understanding the existence of, and the underlying reasons for, informational differences between immigrant and non-immigrant parents is important. This study examines the differences in the level of information between immigrant and non-immigrant parents of third graders just before they make probably their most important educational decision in the German education system. We draw on approaches highlighting the importance of resources and parents’ acculturation to explain the informational differences between immigrant and non-immigrant parents. Employing linear regression and probability models on data from the National Educational Panel Study in Germany (N = 3961), we demonstrate that all immigrant groups, particularly those from Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East, and northern Africa, are significantly less informed than parents without own immigration experience. This result is evident both in our overall test and in various domains of the test, which analyze different aspects of information relevant to parents’ educational decision-making. Furthermore, different endowments with social and cultural capital largely explain the informational differences between parents with and without an immigrant background. In contrast, different acculturation strategies are almost negligible in explaining the differences in the level of information. Our findings provide important insights for research on migration-related inequalities in educational decision-making and for developing interventions to improve migrant parents’ ability to make well-informed and thus intended educational decisions.
The last decade has seen a sharp increase in the number of scientific publications describing physiological and pathological functions of extracellular vesicles (EVs), a collective term covering various subtypes of cell-released, membranous structures, called exosomes, microvesicles, microparticles, ectosomes, oncosomes, apoptotic bodies, and many other names. However, specific issues arise when working with these entities, whose size and amount often make them difficult to obtain as relatively pure preparations, and to characterize properly. The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) proposed Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles (“MISEV”) guidelines for the field in 2014. We now update these “MISEV2014” guidelines based on evolution of the collective knowledge in the last four years. An important point to consider is that ascribing a specific function to EVs in general, or to subtypes of EVs, requires reporting of specific information beyond mere description of function in a crude, potentially contaminated, and heterogeneous preparation. For example, claims that exosomes are endowed with exquisite and specific activities remain difficult to support experimentally, given our still limited knowledge of their specific molecular machineries of biogenesis and release, as compared with other biophysically similar EVs. The MISEV2018 guidelines include tables and outlines of suggested protocols and steps to follow to document specific EV-associated functional activities. Finally, a checklist is provided with summaries of key points.
This paper presents the results of two experiments in German testing the acceptability of (non-)restrictive relative clauses (NRCs/RRCs) with split antecedents (SpAs). According to Moltmann (1992), SpAs are only grammatical if their parts occur within the conjuncts of a coordinate structure and if they have identical grammatical functions. Non-conjoined SpAs that form the subject and the object of a transitive verb are predicted to be ungrammatical. Our study shows that the acceptability of such examples improves significantly if the predicate that relates the parts of the SpA is symmetric. Moreover, it suggests that NRCs and RRCs behave differently in these cases with respect to the SpA-construal. We can make sense of this observation if we follow Winter (2016) in assuming that transitive symmetric predicates have to be analyzed as unary collective predicates and thus provide a collective antecedent for the RC at the semantic (not the syntactic) level. As we will argue, this accounts for some of the disagreement we found in the literature and gives us new insights into both the semantics of symmetric predicates and the semantics of NRCs.
Correlation of lumbar lateral recess stenosis in magnetic resonance imaging and clinical symptoms
(2017)
Aim: To assess the correlation of lateral recess stenosis (LRS) of lumbar segments L4/5 and L5/S1 and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).
Methods: Nine hundred and twenty-seven patients with history of low back pain were included in this uncontrolled study. On magnetic resonance images (MRI) the lateral recesses (LR) at lumbar levels L4/5 and L5/S1 were evaluated and each nerve root was classified into a 4-point grading scale (Grade 0-3) as normal, not deviated, deviated or compressed. Patient symptoms and disability were assessed using ODI. The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used for statistical analysis (P < 0.05).
Results: Approximately half of the LR revealed stenosis (grade 1-3; 52% at level L4/5 and 42% at level L5/S1) with 2.2% and 1.9% respectively reveal a nerve root compression. The ODI score ranged from 0%-91.11% with an arithmetic mean of 34.06% ± 16.89%. We observed a very weak statistically significant positive correlation between ODI and LRS at lumbar levels L4/5 and L5/S1, each bilaterally (L4/5 left: rho < 0.105, P < 0.01; L4/5 right: rho < 0.111, P < 0.01; L5/S1 left: rho 0.128, P < 0.01; L5/S1 right: rho < 0.157, P < 0.001).
Conclusion: Although MRI is the standard imaging tool for diagnosing lumbar spinal stenosis, this study showed only a weak correlation of LRS on MRI and clinical findings. This can be attributed to a number of reasons outlined in this study, underlining that imaging findings alone are not sufficient to establish a reliable diagnosis for patients with LRS.
Background: Since sorafenib has shown activity in different tumour types and gemcitabine regimens improved the outcome for biliary tract cancer (BTC) patients, we evaluated first-line gemcitabine plus sorafenib in a double-blind phase II study.
Patients and methods: 102 unresectable or metastatic BTC patients with histologically proven adenocarcinoma of gallbladder or intrahepatic bile ducts, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) 0–2 were randomised to gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2 once weekly, first 7-weeks + 1-week rest followed by once 3-weeks + 1-week rest) plus sorafenib (400 mg twice daily) or placebo. Treatment continued until progression or unacceptable toxicity. Tumour samples were prospectively stained for sorafenib targets and potential biomarkers. Serum samples (first two cycles) were measured for vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) and stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF1)α by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: Gemcitabine plus sorafenib was generally well tolerated. Four and three patients achieved partial responses in the sorafenib and placebo groups, respectively. There was no difference in the primary end-point, median progression-free survival (PFS) for gemcitabine plus sorafenib versus gemcitabine plus placebo (3.0 versus 4.9 months, P = 0.859), and no difference for median overall survival (OS) (8.4 versus 11.2 months, P = 0.775). Patients with liver metastasis after resection of primary BTC survived longer with sorafenib (P = 0.019) compared to placebo. Patients who developed hand-foot syndrome (HFS) showed longer PFS and OS than patients without HFS. Two sorafenib targets, VEGFR-2 and c-kit, were not expressed in BTC samples. VEGFR-3 and Hif1α were associated with lymph node metastases and T stage. Absence of PDGFRβ expression correlated with longer PFS.
Conclusion: The addition of sorafenib to gemcitabine did not demonstrate improved efficacy in advanced BTC patients. Biomarker subgroup analysis suggested that some patients might benefit from combined treatment.